DARREN Bent will continue to wear the armband for the time being – but the Aston Villa captaincy is “not set in stone”, according to Paul Lambert.

Bent was the claret and blues’ stand-in skipper for most of pre-season and continued with the duties in last weekend’s defeat at West Ham.

But Lambert, who boasts potential alternatives in the form of Ron Vlaar, Karim El Ahmadi and Shay Given, is keeping his options open for now.

“It’s not something we set in stone,” said Lambert, who has kept Stiliyan Petrov as club captain. “People can get injured or lose their form. Whoever I think will do it.

“If Darren got injured I’d have to look for one. But at the moment Darren’s fine so I don’t have to look for one.”

Nathan Delfouneso trained on Friday and is available for today’s home clash against Everton after missing last weekend with a thigh strain. But rookie midfielder Samir Carruthers is still struggling with an ankle injury.

Lambert gave a positive progress report on Gabby Agbonlahor’s knee problem, adding: “Hopefully he might train in the next week at some point.”